Outdoor unit of air conditioner

ABSTRACT

An outdoor unit of an air conditioner includes an axial fan, a motor rotating the axial fan and a motor supporter supporting the motor. The motor supporter includes deflection parts deflecting an air current sucked into the axial fan so as to have a rotating direction component of the axial fan.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to KoreanApplication No. 10-2013-0150899, filed on Dec. 5, 2013, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated in by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an outdoor unit of an air conditioner.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an outdoor unit of a generalair conditioner. FIG. 9 is a view illustrating inner elements of theoutdoor unit of FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a motor supportstructure in FIG. 8. With reference to FIGS. 8 to 10, an air conditioneris an apparatus which exchanges heat between a refrigerant andsurrounding air during a circulation process in which the refrigerant iscompressed, condensed, expanded, and evaporated, to condition indoorair. Such an air conditioner may include an indoor unit installedindoors and conditioning indoor air through heat exchange with theindoor air and an outdoor unit installed outdoors and exchanging heatwith outdoor air.

The outdoor unit may include a casing 2 having a bottom surface 2 a, aheat exchanger 20 performing heat exchange between a refrigerant andoutdoor air, an axial fan 10 forcibly blowing the outdoor air to performeffective contact between the outdoor air and the heat exchanger 20, anda motor 30 rotating the axial fan 10. In case of an air conditioner usedfor both cooling and heating, a heat exchanger provided in an outdoorunit acts as a condenser during cooling and acts as an evaporator duringheating. Suction holes 3 through which outdoor air is sucked into theoutdoor unit and a discharge hole 4 through which air blown by the axialfan 10 is discharged to the outside may be formed on the casing 2.

The motor 30 is supported at the inside of the casing 2 by a motorsupporter 40. Flow resistance caused by interference between an aircurrent sucked into the axial fan 10 and the motor supporter 40 lowersthe performance of the axial fan 10 and particularly, increases noise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditionerwhich may improve performance of a fan and reduce generation of noise.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to theabove-mentioned objects and other objects that have not been mentionedabove will become evident to those skilled in the art from the followingdescription.

To achieve the above objects, there is provided an outdoor unit of anair conditioner according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention including an axial fan, a motor rotating the axial fan, and amotor supporter supporting the motor, wherein the motor supporterincludes deflection parts deflecting an air current sucked into theaxial fan so as to have a rotating direction component of the axial fan.

The deflection part may include a deflection surface having a designatedangle from the axial direction of the axial fan to guide the sucked aircurrent. The angle may be an acute angle.

An air current contact surface of the deflection part contacting thesucked air current may be convex toward the upstream side of the suckedair current, the air current contact surface may include a forwardfacing surface facing the rotating direction of the axial fan and abackward facing surface facing the opposite direction to the rotatingdirection of the axial fan, and the deflection surface may be formed onthe forward facing surface.

The deflection surface may extend so as to be gradually closer to therotating axis of the axial fan in the direction of the rotating axis.

The deflection parts may include at least one deflection part providedabove the rotating axis of the motor and at least one deflection partprovided below the rotating axis of the motor, and the at least onedeflection part provided above the rotating axis of the motor and the atleast one deflection part provided below the rotating axis of the motormay deflect the sucked air current in opposite directions.

A vector proceeding from a leading edge of the deflection part, whichthe sucked air current starts to contact, to a trailing edge of thedeflection part, from which the air current is separated, may have therotating direction component of the axial fan. The leading edge and thetrailing edge may be located on a streamlined closed path. Among asuction surface and a pressure surface of the deflection partinterconnecting the leading edge and the trailing edge, the pressuresurface may face the rotating direction of the axial fan and staticpressure on the suction surface may be lower than static pressure on thepressure surface.

The motor supporter may include a mount part in which the motor ismounted and support legs extending from the mount part and connected toa designated fixing body to support the motor, and the deflection partsmay be formed on the support legs.

The support legs may be prepared in at least one pair and separated fromeach other by a space into which the sucked air current is sucked, andone of the at least one pair of the support legs may have a deflectionsurface gradually becoming closer to the rotating axis in the directionof the rotating axis and formed at a part defining the space. Thedeflection surface may include a deflection surface having a designatedangle from the axial direction of the axial fan to guide the sucked aircurrent, the support legs may include upper support legs extendingupward from the mount part and lower support legs extending downwardfrom the mount part, and a deflection surface formed on the uppersupport leg and a deflection surface formed on the lower support leg mayface opposite directions based on a fixed coordinate system. A vectorfrom a leading edge of the deflection part, which the sucked air currentstarts to contact, to a trailing edge of the deflection part, from whichthe air current is separated, may have the rotating direction componentof the axial fan, the support legs may include upper support legsextending upward from the mount part and lower support legs extendingdownward from the mount part, and a first vector proceeding from theleading edge to the trailing edge of the upper support leg and a secondvector proceeding from the leading edge to the trailing edge of thelower support leg may have direction components of different signs basedon a fixed coordinate system.

The support legs may be provided in plural and the sucked air currentmay pass through spaces between the support legs provided in plural.

The motor supporter may include a mount part in which the motor ismounted, upper support legs extending upward from the mount part andlower support legs extending downward from the mount part, and the uppersupport legs and the lower support legs may correspond to the deflectionparts and deflect the sucked air current in opposite directions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Arrangements and embodiments may be described in detail with referenceto the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to likeelements and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating direction components of an air currentsucked from an outdoor unit to an axial fan of an air conditioner inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a motor supporter in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3( a) and 3(b) are views comparatively illustrating a sucked aircurrent in a conventional air conditioner and a sucked air current in anair conditioner in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a motor supporter in accordance withanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5A-5A of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of the cross-section of a deflection part ofFIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating static pressures according to air volumesif the motor supporter of FIG. 4 is applied and if a conventional motorsupporter is applied;

FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b) are graphs illustrating power consumption andgenerated noise according to air volumes if the motor supporter of FIG.4 is applied and if the conventional motor supporter is applied;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an outdoor unit of a generalair conditioner;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating inner elements of the outdoor unit of FIG.8; and

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a motor support structure in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The advantages, features and methods for achieving those of embodimentsmay become apparent upon referring to embodiments described later indetail together with attached drawings. However, embodiments are notlimited to the embodiments disclosed hereinafter, but may be embodied indifferent modes. The embodiments are provided for perfection ofdisclosure and informing a scope to persons skilled in this field ofart. The same reference numbers may refer to the same elementsthroughout the specification.

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating direction components of an air currentsucked from an outdoor unit to an axial fan of an air conditioner inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is aview illustrating a motor supporter in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention. FIGS. 3( a) and 3(b) are views comparativelyillustrating a sucked air current in a conventional air conditioner anda sucked air current in an air conditioner in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

First, with reference to FIG. 1, direction components which will bedescribed later are defined.

In FIG. 1, a circle represents a rotating orbit of an axial fan 10, and{circumflex over (X)}, Ŷ and {circumflex over (Z)} represent respectiveaxes of an X-Y-Z fixed coordinate system when the axial direction of theaxial fan 10 is defined as {circumflex over (Z)}. Further, a vector VŶon an XY plane of the fixed coordinate system is converted into arotating coordinate system including a rotating direction component{circumflex over (t)} and a radial direction component {circumflex over(r)} of the axial fan 10. Here, VŶ represents a Ŷ direction component ofan air current sucked in the axial fan 10. An angle θ is an anglerotated in a positive (+) direction from the Ŷ axis and about the axis{circumflex over (Z)} (in the counterclockwise rotating direction of theaxial fan 10 in FIG. 1).

VŶ will be defined below.

VŶ=V1{circumflex over (r)}+V2{circumflex over (t)}=V sin θ{circumflexover (r)}+V cos θ{circumflex over (t)}

As known from the above Equation, the vector VŶ has a rotating directioncomponent V2. The outdoor unit of the air conditioner of the presentinvention includes a motor supporter deflecting an air current sucked inthe axial direction {circumflex over (Z)} of an axial fan 10 so as tohave a rotating direction component. Hereinafter, embodiments of thepresent invention will be described in more detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3( b), an outdoor unit of an airconditioner in accordance with one embodiment of the present inventionincludes an axial fan 10, a motor 30 rotating the axial fan 10, and amotor supporter 100 supporting the motor 30.

The motor supporter 100 supports the motor 30 at the rear of the axialfan 10. The motor supporter 100 may include support legs 110 and 120supporting the motor 30. Further, the motor supporter 100 may include amount part 130 into which the motor 30 is inserted. The support legs 110and 120 may extend from the mount part 130 and be connected to adesignated fixing body, such as a casing 2, to support the motor 30.

The support legs 110 and 120 may be provided in plural so as todistribute load applied from the motor 30. In this embodiment, a pair ofsupport legs 110 separated from each other is provided on the upperportion of the mount part 130 and a pair of support legs 120 separatedfrom each other is provided on the lower portion of the mount part 130,but the disclosure is not limited thereto. An air current flows throughseparation spaces S1 and S2 between the support legs 110 and 120.Hereinafter, among the support legs 110 and 120, support legs extendingupward from the mount part 130 will be referred to as upper support legs110 and support legs extending downward from the mount part 130 will bereferred to as lower support legs 120.

Joint plates 141 and 142 may be formed at ends of the support legs 110and 120 and be combined with the casing 2. Hereinafter, among the jointplates 141 and 142, a joint plate interconnecting ends of at least onepair of upper support legs 110 and combined with the upper surface (notshown) of the casing 2 will be referred to as an upper joint plate 141,and a joint plate interconnecting ends of at least one pair of lowersupport legs 120 and combined with the bottom surface 2 a of the casing2 will be referred to as a lower joint plate 142.

The motor supporter 100 includes deflection parts D deflecting an aircurrent sucked in the axial fan 10 (i.e., a sucked air current) so as tohave a rotating direction component {circumflex over (t)} of the axialfan 10. The deflection parts D may be formed on the support legs 110 and120.

At least one deflection part D may be provided above a rotating axis ofthe motor 30 and at least one deflection part D may be provided belowthe rotating axis. The deflection part D provided above the rotatingaxis and the deflection part D provided below the rotating axis deflectthe sucked air current in opposite directions.

The deflection part D may include a surface guiding the sucked aircurrent, i.e., a deflection surface 111 or 121 formed at a designatedangle α from the axial direction {circumflex over (Z)} of an axial fan10. The angle α may be an acute angle. Since the deflection surface 111or 121 forms an acute angle α from the axial direction {circumflex over(Z)} of an axial fan 10, at least one of the upper support legs 110 hasa deflection surface 111 that gradually becomes closer to the rotatingaxis in the axial direction {circumflex over (Z)}. Which one of theupper support legs 110 has the deflection surface 111 that graduallybecomes closer to the rotating axis in the axial direction {circumflexover (Z)} is determined in consideration of the rotating direction ofthe axial fan 10. In this embodiment, the deflection surface 111 thatgradually becomes closer to the rotating axis in the axial direction{circumflex over (Z)} is formed at a part, defining the space S1, of theright upper support leg 110 of one pair of upper support legs 110 inFIG. 2.

In the same manner, at least one of the lower support legs 120 has adeflection surface 121 that gradually becomes closer to the rotatingaxis in the axial direction {circumflex over (Z)}. Since directions inwhich the sucked air current needs to be deflected in the upper regionand the lower region based on the mount part 130 are opposite to eachother, the deflection surface 121 of the lower support leg 120 thatgradually becomes closer to the rotating axis in the axial direction{circumflex over (Z)} is formed at a part, defining the space S2, of theleft lower leg 120 of one pair of lower support legs 120 in FIG. 2, onthe contrary to the upper support legs 110.

The sucked air current is guided by the deflection surfaces 111 and 121and thus, an air current having a rotating direction component{circumflex over (t)} is formed. In more detail, an air current contactsurface 115 or 125 of the deflection part D contacting the sucked aircurrent may be convex toward the upstream side of the sucked aircurrent. In this case, the deflection surface 111 or 121 is formed on aforward facing surface of the air current contact surface 115 or 125,facing the rotating direction of the axial fan 10 (the leftwarddirection in an area above the mount part 130 and in the rightwarddirection in an area below the mount part 130, in FIG. 2), and abackward facing surface 112 or 122 is formed at a part of the aircurrent contact surface 115 or 125, facing the opposite direction to therotating direction of the axial fan 10. The deflection surface 111 or121 and the backward facing surface 112 or 122 may be connected by aconnection surface 113 or 123.

The backward facing surface 112 or 122 extends from the connectionsurface 113 or 123 substantially in parallel with the axial direction{circumflex over (Z)} from the upstream side to the downstream side ofthe air current. Therefore, the angle α between the deflection surface111 or 121 and the axial direction {circumflex over (Z)} is greater thanthe angle between the backward facing surface 112 or 122 and the axialdirection {circumflex over (Z)}. As exemplarily shown in FIGS. 3( a) and3(b), in the conventional air conditioner, sucked air has a component inthe opposite direction to the rotating direction of an axial fan, but,in this embodiment of the present invention, sucked air is deflected bythe deflection surfaces 111 and 121 and thus has the rotating directioncomponent {circumflex over (t)} of the axial fan 10.

As exemplarily shown in FIG. 2, the deflection surfaces 111 and 121formed on the support legs 110 and 120 face the rotating direction{circumflex over (t)} of the axial fan 10 based on the rotatingcoordinate system, but the deflection surface 111 formed on the uppersupport leg 110 and the deflection surface 121 formed on the lowersupport leg 120 face opposite directions based on the fixed coordinatesystem.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a motor supporter in accordance withanother embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A is across-sectional view taken along line 5A-5A of FIG. 4. FIG. 5B is anenlarged view of the cross-section 210(S) of a deflection part of FIG.5A.

With reference to FIG. 4 and FIGS. 5A and 5B, an outdoor unit of an airconditioner in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention includes an axial fan 10, a motor 30 rotating the axial fan10, and a motor supporter 200 supporting the motor 30.

The motor supporter 200 supports the motor 30 at the rear of the axialfan 10. The motor supporter 200 may include support legs 210 and 220supporting the motor 30. Further, the motor supporter 200 may include amount part 230 into which the motor 30 is inserted. The support legs 210and 220 may extend from the mount part 230 and be provided in plural soas to distribute load applied from the motor 30. The support legs 210and 220 are separated from each other, and an air current flows throughseparation spaces between the support legs 210 and 220. The support legs210 and 220 may include at least one of upper support legs 210 extendingupward from the mount part 230 and lower support legs 220 extendingdownward from the mount part 230.

Joint plates 241 and 242 may be formed at ends of the support legs 210and 220 and be combined with the casing 2. Hereinafter, among the jointplates 241 and 242, a joint plate interconnecting ends of the uppersupport legs 210 and combined with the upper surface (not shown) of thecasing 2 will be referred to as an upper joint plate 241 and a jointplate interconnecting ends of the lower support legs 220 and combinedwith the bottom surface 2 a of the casing 2 will be referred to as alower joint plate 242.

Reinforcing ribs 251 and 252 interconnecting the support legs 210 and220 may be further provided between the mount part 230 and the jointplates 241 and 242. The reinforcing ribs 251 and 252 may include anupper reinforcing rib 251 interconnecting the upper support legs 210 anda lower reinforcing rib 252 interconnecting the lower support legs 220.

The motor supporter 200 includes deflection parts D′ deflecting an aircurrent sucked in the axial fan 10 (i.e., a sucked air current) so as tohave a rotating direction component {circumflex over (t)} of the axialfan 10. The deflection parts D′ may be formed on the support legs 110and 120.

In the deflection part D′, a vector {circumflex over (V)}c proceedingfrom a leading edge LE of the deflection part D′, which the sucked aircurrent starts to contact, to a trailing edge TE of the deflection partD′, from which the air current is separated, has the rotating directioncomponent {circumflex over (t)} of the axial fan 10. That is, thecross-section of the deflection part D′, i.e., the cross-section of thedeflection part D′ taken long the YZ plane, may have the shape of astreamlined closed path or an airfoil and, in this case, the vector{circumflex over (V)}c is defined according to a chord connecting theleading edge LE to the trailing edge TE of the deflection part D′.

Among an upper surface (or a suction surface) U and a lower surface (ora pressure surface) L interconnecting the leading edge LE to thetrailing edge TE of the deflection part D′, the lower surface L faceswith the rotating direction of the axial fan 10 and the upper surface Ufaces the opposite direction to the rotating direction of the axial fan10. The velocity of the air current on the upper surface U is higherthan the velocity of the air current on the lower surface L and thus,the static pressure on the upper surface U is lower than the staticpressure on the lower surface L.

The air current flows through separation spaces between the support legs210 and 220. The support legs 210 and 220 may include at least one ofthe upper support legs 210 extending upward from the mount part 230 andlower support legs 220 extending downward from the mount part 230.

A first vector proceeding from the leading edge LE to the trailing edgeTE of the upper support leg 210 and a second vector proceeding from theleading edge LE to the trailing edge TE of the lower support leg 220face the rotating direction of the axial fan 10 based on the rotatingcoordinate system, but have direction components of different signsbased on the fixed coordinate system. That is, the first vector has acomponent Ŷ of a positive value and the second vector has a component Ŷof a negative value.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating static pressures according to air volumesif the motor supporter of FIG. 4 is applied and if a conventional motorsupporter is applied. FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b) are graphs illustrating powerconsumption and generated noise according to air volumes if the motorsupporter of FIG. 4 is applied and if the conventional motor supporteris applied.

With reference to FIG. 6, according to experimentation, static pressureif the motor supporter in accordance with the present invention isapplied (with reference to a curve (a′)) is increased, as compared tostatic pressure if the conventional motor supporter is applied (withreference to a curve (a)), and flow resistance if the motor supporter inaccordance with the present invention is applied (with reference to acurve (b′)) is decreased, as compared to flow resistance if theconventional motor supporter is applied (with reference to a curve (b)).Therefore, although the conventional outdoor unit may be operated at anair volume F so as to generate proper static pressure and flowresistance, the outdoor unit in accordance with the present inventionmay be operated at an increased air volume F′ while generating staticpressure and flow resistance similar to those of the conventionaloutdoor unit. Increase in static pressure and decrease in flowresistance improve performance of the axial fan 10. As exemplarily shownin FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b), it is understood that the outdoor unit inaccordance with the present invention lowers power consumption andreduces a level of generated noise, as compared to the conventionaloutdoor unit.

As apparent from the above description, an outdoor unit of an airconditioner in accordance with one embodiment of the present inventionmay reduce resistance on a flow path of an air current sucked into anaxial fan.

Further, the outdoor unit of the air conditioner in accordance with theembodiment of the present invention may increase performance of theaxial fan, particularly, static pressure of the axial fan.

Further, the outdoor unit of the air conditioner in accordance with theembodiment of the present invention may reduce generated noise.

Further, since a unit to guide the air current sucked into the axial fanis implemented by a motor supporter, the outdoor unit of the airconditioner in accordance with the embodiment of the present inventiondoes not require any separate guide unit, such as a vane or an orifice,and may thus improve air blowing performance without great change of thestructure of a conventional outdoor unit.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. An outdoor unit of an air conditioner, theoutdoor unit comprising: an axial fan; a motor to rotate the axial fanin a rotating direction; and a motor supporter supporting the motor,wherein the motor supporter includes deflection parts deflecting an aircurrent sucked into the axial fan so as to have a rotating directioncomponent of the axial fan.
 2. The outdoor unit according to claim 1,wherein the deflection parts include a deflection surface arranged at adesignated angle from an axial direction of the axial fan to guide theair current.
 3. The outdoor unit according to claim 2, wherein the angleis an acute angle.
 4. The outdoor unit according to claim 2, wherein thedeflection parts include an air current contact surface contacting theair current, the air current contact surface being arranged convextoward an upstream side of the air current, wherein the air currentcontact surface includes: a forward facing surface facing the rotatingdirection of the axial fan; and a backward facing surface facing adirection opposite to the rotating direction of the axial fan, andwherein the deflection surface is provided on the forward facingsurface.
 5. The outdoor unit according to claim 4, wherein thedeflection surface extends so as to be gradually closer to a rotatingaxis of the axial fan in the direction of the rotating axis of the axialfan.
 6. The outdoor unit according to claim 1, wherein the deflectionparts include at least one deflection part provided above a rotatingaxis of the motor and at least one deflection part provided below therotating axis of the motor, and wherein the at least one deflection partprovided above the rotating axis of the motor and the at least onedeflection part provided below the rotating axis of the motor deflectthe air current in opposite directions.
 7. The outdoor unit according toclaim 1, wherein a vector proceeding from a leading edge of thedeflection part, which the air current starts to contact, to a trailingedge of the deflection part, from which the air current is separated,has the rotating direction component of the axial fan.
 8. The outdoorunit according to claim 7, wherein the leading edge and the trailingedge are located on a streamlined closed path.
 9. The outdoor unitaccording to claim 8, wherein, among a suction surface and a pressuresurface of the deflection part interconnecting the leading edge and thetrailing edge, the pressure surface faces with the rotating direction ofthe axial fan, and static pressure on the suction surface is lower thanstatic pressure on the pressure surface.
 10. The outdoor unit accordingto claim 1, wherein the motor supporter includes: a mount part to whichthe motor is mounted; and support legs extending from the mount part,wherein the deflection parts are provided on the support legs.
 11. Theoutdoor unit according to claim 10, wherein the support legs areseparated from each other by a space through which the air current issucked, and wherein one of the support legs has a deflection surfacegradually becoming closer to a rotating axis of the axial fan in thedirection of the rotating axis of the axial fan and provided at a partdefining the space.
 12. The outdoor unit according to claim 10, whereinthe deflection parts include a deflection surface arranged at adesignated angle from the axial direction of the axial fan to guide theair current, wherein the support legs include: upper support legsextending upward from the mount part; and lower support legs extendingdownward from the mount part, and wherein a deflection surface providedon one of the upper support legs and a deflection surface provided onone of the lower support legs face opposite directions based on a fixedcoordinate system.
 13. The outdoor unit according to claim 12, whereinthe air current passes through spaces between the support legs.
 14. Theoutdoor unit according to claim 10, wherein a vector from a leading edgeof the deflection part, which the air current starts to contact, to atrailing edge of the deflection part, from which the air current isseparated, has the rotating direction component of the axial fan,wherein the support legs include: upper support legs extending upwardfrom the mount part; and lower support legs extending downward from themount part, and wherein a first vector proceeding from the leading edgeto the trailing edge of one of the upper support legs and a secondvector proceeding from the leading edge to the trailing edge of one ofthe lower support legs have direction components of different signsbased on a fixed coordinate system.
 15. The outdoor unit according toclaim 1, wherein the motor supporter includes: a mount part to which themotor is mounted; upper support legs extending upward from the mountpart; and lower support legs extending downward from the mount part,wherein the upper support legs and the lower support legs include thedeflection parts, and wherein the upper support legs and the lowersupport legs deflect the air current in opposite directions.
 16. Anoutdoor unit of an air conditioner, the outdoor unit comprising: ahousing; an axial fan for producing an air current within the housing,the axial fan including: a fan blade; and a motor to rotate the fanblade in a rotation direction; and a motor supporter supporting themotor, the motor supporter including: a mount part to which the motor ismounted; an upper support leg extending upward from the mount part; anda lower support leg extending downward from the mount part, wherein theupper support leg includes an upper deflection part configured todeflect a first portion of the air current in a first direction, whereinthe lower support leg includes a lower deflection part configured todeflect a second portion of the air current in a second directionopposite to the first direction, and wherein the first direction and thesecond direction extend in a same direction as the rotation direction ofthe fan blade.
 17. The outdoor unit according to claim 16, wherein theupper deflection part and the lower deflection part each include adeflection surface arranged at an acute angle with respect to an axialdirection of the axial fan to guide the air current.
 18. The outdoorunit according to claim 17, wherein the upper deflection part and thelower deflection part each include an air current contact surfacecontacting the air current, the air current contact surface protrudingtoward an upstream side of the air current.
 19. The outdoor unitaccording to claim 18, wherein the air current contact surface includes:a forward facing surface facing the rotation direction of the fan blade;and a backward facing surface facing a direction opposite to therotation direction of the fan blade, and wherein the deflection surfaceis provided on the forward facing surface.
 20. An axial fan assemblycomprising: a fan blade for producing an air current; a motor to rotatethe fan blade in a rotation direction; and a motor supporter supportingthe motor, the motor supporter including: a mount part to which themotor is mounted; an upper support leg extending upward from the mountpart, the upper support leg including an upper deflection partconfigured to deflect a first part of the air current in a firstdirection; and a lower support leg extending downward from the mountpart, the lower support leg including a lower deflection part configuredto deflect a second part of the air current in a second directionopposite to the first direction, wherein the first direction and thesecond direction extend in a same direction as the rotation direction ofthe fan blade.